Mike Riopell

As election day nears, legislative races are hotly contested in some parts of the state. We preview those and look at the odds of a Republican take-over…

Republican Mel Thillens is a first-time candidate for the Illinois House, but his name has been carried across the state on the sides of large trucks for…

When GOP state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington lost his race for governor in 2010, Republicans knew they had tough years ahead. Brady’s loss meant…

Changing political parties may have seemed like an obvious decision for state Rep. Paul Froehlich. In 2006, the Schaumburg lawmaker was a Republican who…

As Chicago's suburbs grow increasingly hard to label as predominantly Republican because of shifting demographics, some lawmakers have opted to switch…